build conference

First, it is important to understand that the new WinRT (Windows Runtime) model that supports Win8 Metro style apps is accessible from .NET. Yes, you can also use C++, but I can’t imagine a whole lot of people care. And you can use JavaScript, which is pretty cool.

But the important thing to understand is that WinRT is fully accessible from .NET. The model is quite similar to Silverlight for Windows Phone. You write a program using C# or VB, and that program runs within the CLR, and has access to a set of base class libraries (BCL) just like a .NET, Silverlight, or WP7 app today. Your program also has access to a large new namespace where you have access to all the WinRT types.

These WinRT types are the same ones used by C++ or JavaScript developers in WinRT. I think this is very cool, because it means that (for perhaps the first time ever) we’ll be able to create truly first-class Windows applications in C#, without having to resort to C++ or p/invoke calls.